Gunmakers on both sides of the pond have long created specially finished guns to promote their brands. Think Col. Colt’s presentation pistols or Holland & Holland’s “Products of Excellence” series. Few, if any, have managed this on an annual basis. Since the late 1990s, however, Krieghoff, based in Ulm, Germany, has consistently unveiled a “Gun of the Year”—frequently featuring historic or geographic themes. Past examples have been embellished by rock-star engravers such as Giacomo Fausti (the Alamo Gun, 2015) and Hendrik Frühauf (the Buffalo Bill Gun, 2017) and have become desirable collectibles.
The latest model in the series is engraved on the theme of the Galápagos Islands, home to unique iguanids and the finches that provided Charles Darwin with evidence for his theory of evolution. The basis for this artwork is a Krieghoff K80/S featuring a Top Latch locking system.
The horizontal nature of the sideplated K80 provides an ideal canvas for Austrian engraver Chantal Schaschl’s interpretation of the Galápagos’s unique flora and fauna—depicted in multiple shades of gold and deep carving. Reptiles are represented by a native racing snake, lava lizards, marine and terrestrial iguanas, and the giant tortoises so familiar from wildlife documentaries. Bird life portrayed includes the blue-footed booby, endemic penguins, great frigatebirds and the Galápagos hawk. Sea lions are shown basking on the coastline in high relief. And the underside features creatures visible beneath the island’s ocean waves, such as angelfish, spotted eagle rays and a leatherback turtle.
Krieghoff’s Galápagos Island Gun is available exclusively from Pacific Sporting Arms East, which will provide pricing on request. For more information, visit pacificsportingarms
.com.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF KRIEGHOFF
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